Chapter 27 - A Wild Beast Sleeps
A Wild Beast Sleeps
Lying on her bed, while the rays of the morning sun pass through the window and shines on her body warmly was Fluttershy, totally immersed in reading a book that Rarity had lent her. The book was an adventure about a pony princess from a very distant kingdom, which was mysteriously abducted, leaving the whole kingdom mired in sadness and chaos, where only a humble peasant was the only one brave enough to go and rescue the princess, of which he was secretly in love with.
At first, Fluttershy had timidly read the book, knowing that it was just an adventure and that the protagonist would have to face terrible situations that made her very nervous when reading it, however, as Rarity herself had told her when she borrowed the book, nothing very terrible happened in the story, in fact the protagonist had rarely fought in the whole story, he only used his words or his cunning skills to get ahead, which made Fluttershy even more interested in the book, making her read it without fear of being scared. This is how Fluttershy read the book all afternoon yesterday, and she was so caught by the story, that it took a lot of effort for her to finally stop reading that night and finally go to sleep, however the first thing she did when she woke up that day, it was to take the book again and read the last pages that were left pending, right at the climax of the story:
"...the poor 'Rusty Sword' was in the middle of the ruins of the old castle, after having evaded countless traps, cheating the mercenaries who had kidnapped the princess, and having passed the gates hidden among herds of strange creatures, he had finally found what he was looking for: There, in the middle of the huge ruins, was his beloved princess, as beautiful as ever, reclining on a huge pedestal.
Rusty Sword ran to where the princess lay, but stopped to suddenly hear a terrifying growl. He turned around and finally came face to face with the one who in the darkness of the night had kidnapped the beautiful princess, a huge creature, with silver-shiny scales, huge fangs, and fierce eyes that..."
"Nooo!" Fluttershy screamed in fright, slamming the book shut.
That was the problem why Fluttershy could never finish an adventure book, she immerses herself so much in the story that each time the protagonist confronts a monster, she is unable to continue reading out of fear of seeing the protagonist in a dangerous and certainly deadly situation, and although she knew that adventure books usually had happy endings, she was not able to withstand the stress of climax’s, where the protagonist seemed to be in a dead-end situation, and this book didn’t seemed to be an exception, because with the description of the monster she had just read, she already knew what the poor 'Rusty Sword' would face, since there was only such a terrifying creature with that terrible appearance.
"A D-Dragon..." Fluttershy thoughtfully whispered out loud, closing her eyes as an old memory came to her mind, where she was in a dark cave where only fearsome red eyes could be seen, and a sinister and dismal laugh was heard, which made Fluttershy shiver and shake her head to forget that terrible memory. "That will not happen... This is just a story, just a story!"
Finally, Fluttershy built up her courage and opened the book again to continue reading, since she knew that she had to overcome that foolish fear, because otherwise she could never reach the happy ending of any story. That's how Fluttershy went back to accompany 'Rusty Sword' in his adventure, and read nervously when the hero ran through the halls of the old castle, trying to escape the ferocious jaws of the huge dragon, and when it seemed that 'Rusty Sword' had no way out and Fluttershy would stop reading again out of fear of what will happen to the hero, the brave peasant of the story made the dragon hit the last column of the huge room, causing the entire roof of the great hall to fall on the unsuspecting dragon, only then Fluttershy understood that 'Rusty Sword' had not been running aimlessly, but he had cleverly been making the dragon himself strike the pillars of the roof and so the dragon buried himself in his own grave.
Fluttershy had been so tense reading the confrontation with the dragon, that now she was no longer lying on her bed, but was sitting on it, with her face pressed against the book. And in that way she continued reading, totally immersed in the story, finally reaching the end of this, where 'Rusty Sword' came to where the princess was, waking her up, and she, seeing her savior and recognizing in his eyes the kindness, courage and love that he possessed, approached him and finally, gave each other a deep kiss that bound their hearts for all eternity.
"Yay!!!" Fluttershy shouted again, this time screaming with happiness, falling back on her bed again, happy to see the noble hero finally achieve his goal, and rescued his beloved. "That kiss was perfect!" Fluttershy added, holding the book in her chest and looking up at the ceiling with her cheeks slightly blushed.
Fluttershy stared at the ceiling for a long time, smiling from ear to ear, happy for the happy fate of 'Rusty Sword'. Then she looked down and saw the sun through the window of her room.
"Oh no, it's too late!" Fluttershy said in surprise when realizing that she had spent a good part of the morning reading the book and that she had been late to do her homework.
Then Fluttershy rushed out of her house and walked to her garden, which in practice was all the meadow that surrounded her house. There were already many of her little animals awaiting her, who waited very impatiently for the kind pegasus to feed them, because although they could get their own food, they enjoyed the sweet voice and gentle caresses of their tender caregiver.
This is how Fluttershy began her laborious task of feeding the animals. First with the herbivores, like squirrels and rabbits, giving them nuts, dried fruits and tender leaves, a lot of food that she herself enjoyed sometimes. After that came the birds, fluttering among the treetops, waiting patiently for the pegasus to bring them the juiciest worms in the place.
"Slimy, yet satisfying..." Fluttershy thought as she spat the worms so that her birds could eat, remembering once when she had tried to taste a worm, a taste that had not displeased her as much as she thought while she had it in her mouth, but when she felt the worm move, she couldn’t help but throw up and swore to herself to never try something like that ever again.
Finally, Fluttershy left the task that was the most uncomfortable to the end. She went to the stream that passed by her house, and caught several trout’s that swam around, after all, although she was a herbivore, she had several carnivorous animals among her ranks, which, in spite of herself, had to eat meat to survive. Something to which she had already become accustomed, in fact she had even accustomed the bear, Harry, to only feed on fish and that his hunger for meat would not harm any of her animals. However, just having something alive in her snout made her feel uncomfortable, so she performed that unpleasant task at the end, and as quickly as possible.
Fluttershy took the fish to the otters and ferrets that lived under the bridge that crossed the stream, and gave it to them quickly, taking care not to show a face of disgust in front of the otters, after all, she understood that this was how nature worked. As soon as she did, the pegasus was ready to leave, since she didn’t like to see her animals eat meat, however she stayed still to see that this time one of the male otters did not eat the trout immediately, he only watched it while another supported it. Fluttershy prepared to ask the otter if there was a problem, but she couldn’t do it because the otter took the trout in his mouth and took a couple of jumps until he reached another otter, a female, who saw that the male otter came to her with a present, then the female otter could not help but blush.
"Aww... So cute... They’re in love." Fluttershy smiled tenderly to see how a new couple formed between their animals.
Seeing the two otters kissing each other with their noses, Fluttershy remembered how the hero of the story that she read, ‘Rusty Sword’, had also found love, passionately kissing his beloved princess, who had also fallen in love with her savior. At that moment Fluttershy unconsciously lifted one of her hooves and touched her lips as she remembered the kiss of the story.
"It must be nice when somepony falls in love with you and... kisses you..." Fluttershy thought as her cheeks blushed and she realized that by imagining herself in a romantic situation, the only face that came to mind was from a known lavender unicorn, the one who always made her heart speed up when she saw him.
"What am I thinking!?!" Fluttershy said thinking aloud, shaking her head while her cheeks were still flushed.
At that moment Fluttershy finally moved away from the otters and turned her eyes to the sky while she remembered what other tasks she had left to do that morning; however she was immediately distracted when she saw that a huge cloud of smoke was beginning to appear in a side of the sky. Fluttershy stared at the cloud of smoke, which was slowly getting bigger and was moving slowly but steadily from the mountains to the center of town.
"T-That's not good!" Fluttershy said nervously, fearing that this could be the product of some huge fire. "I must find help!"
Then Fluttershy started running towards Ponyille, because although she didn’t know what the problem was or how to solve it, she knew that there were ponies in the town who could solve it, the beings she trusted the most, her four eternal friends and her newest friend, the five ponies she trusted the most in the world and who would definitely listen to her and help her if that huge cloud of smoke was a sign of danger.
On the outskirts of Ponyville, all the ponies seemed to be very lively, strolling through the park, chatting among friends, playing, singing, each enjoying their own way that beautiful day, and the friends of Fluttershy were no exception. In the middle of the park were Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rarity, all looking at Rainbow Dash, who headed a purple ball repeatedly and trying not to lose balance while doing so.
"How much longer will you be bouncing that ball on your head?" Rarity asked, looking curiously at her friend, hoping not to distract her with that question.
"I just need two hundred and twelve more rebounds..." Rainbow Dash answered, still looking at the ball bouncing over her head.
"It turns out that Dusk lent her a record book." Applejack said looking at Rarity, knowing that her friend still didn’t understand what the pegasus was doing. "And Rainbow Dash decided it would be easy for her to break the equestrian record for the most bounces on the head with a ball, so she has been doing this all morning."
"By the way, where's Dusk? I want him to be here when I break the record!" Rainbow Dash added without losing her concentration but blushing slightly.
"I don't know, it's late, we were supposed to meet here." Applejack replied with a shrug.
While Rainbow Dash continued with her challenge, Fluttershy appeared running in the distance, looking everywhere trying to find her friends, a difficult task since just that morning the park was full of ponies. Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief when she finally located her friends, relieved to have found them, since it would have been very difficult for her to explain to anypony else about the danger she had discovered, because she knew that her own shyness always played against her when she had to talk to somepony else about something, but fortunately she knew that her friends would listen to her and definitely believe her without hesitation.
Fluttershy ran to where her friends were, ready to warn them about what she had seen from her house.
"Um... Hi girls, I'm glad I found you, I-" Fluttershy began to speak hastily, with her normal tone of voice, soft and low volume.
"Oh, hello darling, how are you?" Rarity greeted kindly, unintentionally interrupting her friend. "Tell me, have you read the book I lent you?
"I, um... y-yes, I read it, but what I wanted to say is-" Fluttershy answered in vain trying to return to the matter that mattered to her, since she was interrupted again.
"Watch out! Make way!" Pinkie Pie said approaching where her friends were, along with a dozen ponies of the place.
"Why are there so many ponies?" Applejack asked confused.
"I, I-I need to warn you-" Fluttershy said timidly, without being heard and being interrupted again.
"I asked them to come closer!" Pinkie Pie responded to Applejack with a big smile, totally excited. "Rainbow Dash is about to break a world record! It's a historic event! The more public the better!"
"I was outside my house, until I saw-" Fluttershy continued speaking, without anypony hearing.
"Is it true that Rainbow Dash is going to break a record?" One of the mares that had approached with Pinkie Pie asked.
"There was a huge cloud of smoke that-" Fluttershy continued without being heard.
"Well, I'm not so sure." Applejack replied with a mischievous smile, approaching the mare who had asked her the question. "I think Rainbow Dash didn't read the part that said the record was bouncing a ball jumping on a leg, I would have told her, but it's my little revenge for the joke that she played on me the other day, hehe."
"The smoke came near the mountain-" Fluttershy was still talking, trying in vain to catch somepony's attention.
"So this record isn't historical but she thinks so? Hahaha! That's funny!" The mare and the other ponies that reached to hear what Applejack said laughed.
"Maybe it's a fire-" Fluttershy kept trying to make herself heard without result.
"That's right, but it's still an impressive achievement." Applejack added, again looking at Rainbow Dash, knowing that despite everything it was an amazing ability for Rainbow Dash to balance while bouncing a ball on her.
"Somepony should go to investigate and..." Fluttershy finally fell silent shyly to see that it was useless to talk, since no one paid attention to her, and everyone, including her friends, talked animatedly only about Rainbow Dash’s challenge.
Finally Fluttershy took a deep breath to try to speak louder and make herself heard, since what she had seen seemed to be an emergency and everyone should be aware of that, however this time she was interrupted before speaking.
"Could everypony keep it down please?! All the talking down there is distracting me!" Rainbow Dash shouted, who didn’t take her eyes off the bouncing ball, so she couldn’t see that now she was not alone with her friends, but there were dozens of ponies surrounding her and looking at her, yet she could only hear the murmurs that were around her, which made her lose concentration.
As soon as Rainbow Dash shouted, the audience around her fell silent, as did Fluttershy, who only gave a nervous look, as she wanted to warn everyone about the huge cloud of smoke she had seen, but she didn’t want to interrupt nor to decentralize her friend in what seemed to be something important to her. Thus, Fluttershy became discouraged, biting her lip nervously, looking away without knowing what to do, until suddenly she saw in the distance two figures that she knew well, a lavender unicorn with a small purple dragon, that raised Fluttershy's spirits again, since it seemed that Dusk would definitely listen to her.
The shy yellow pegasus ran away from the crowd that her friends had gathered and went to where Dusk Shine was coming, who was talking animatedly as he walked with his little dragon brother. As soon as Fluttershy got to Dusk, she stopped to greet him and warn him about what she had seen, but she stopped when she saw that just as she was arriving, Dusk and Spike burst out laughing, as if they had been joking just before she arrived.
"Hahaha! I really wish I had been there to see her face! Hahaha!" Dusk Shine said laughing while talking to Spike.
"Haha, yeah, that's the only bad thing about being here in Ponyville." Spike laughed loudly.
"Um... Hi Dusk, Hi Spike." Fluttershy said timidly, noticing that apparently neither of them had yet noticed her presence.
"Oh, hi Fluttershy, sorry, I didn't see you coming, hehe." Dusk said, waving and drying a tear of laughter.
"Dusk! Tell her, tell her!" Spike said covering his laughter with his claw. "Fluttershy wouldn’t tell anypony, hehe."
"Do you want to know why we were laughing so much?" Dusk asked with a smile, looking at Fluttershy.
"Eh, I... b-but-" Fluttershy replied nervously, since at any other time she would have been interested in that, but now there was something more important to talk about, however, as it was customary, she was interrupted again.
"We played a joke on Princess Celestia!" Spike said hastily, unable to stop himself from saying it.
"D-Did you make a joke to the princess?" Fluttershy asked surprised and a little scared. "H-How? Why? You guys... Did you go to Canterlot to make a joke?"
Dusk Shine and Spike looked at each other and their smiles slowly grew to fill their faces.
"It was not necessary to go to Canterlot." Dusk answered smiling, looking again at the pegasus.
"All thanks to this!" Spike added, showing what appeared to be a small notebook.
"What is that?" Fluttershy asked looking at the small notebook that Spike was holding.
"This is Princess Celestia's contact notebook, I found it by chance while I saw some old notebooks of mine that they sent from Canterlot." Dusk said smiling. "It turns out that sometimes the princess used to make me write her letters and send them to the nobles of the capital."
Fluttershy stared at Dusk confused, still not understanding where Dusk wanted to go.
"Today is the princess' day off, we know because she always takes a day off every four months to rest from all her tasks." Dusk added as he began to laugh when he remembered what he had done. "But today she'll be mysteriously busy, hahaha."
"We sent fake letters to all the names in the notebook to tell them that the princess had scheduled private audiences for them today!" Spike said again, unable to resist telling the great joke they had made. "So the princess will be totally surprised to see that she has all the nobles of Canterlot waiting to have an audience with her on her day off, hahaha!"
"Hahaha! Yeah, it's been a long time since I played a joke on the princess, it's best to keep the traditions, hahaha!" Dusk said also laughing.
Fluttershy stared at Dusk and Spike as they laughed, not knowing how to react, since making a joke to the princess seemed unforgivable, besides she thought it was a cruel thing to take away the rest day she had, although of course, Fluttershy didn’t know that that kind of jokes were normal for Dusk and the princess, because the princess has played worse jokes on Dusk at some point. Finally, Fluttershy shook all those thoughts about the joke to the princess, and remembered that she had something much more important than talking to Dusk.
"Dusk, I-I came to tell you something important." Fluttershy said putting a serious look. Dusk immediately saw his friend and knew that for Fluttershy to put that expression on, she was about to tell him something important, so he stopped laughing and looked at her closely. "I was outside my house feeding the prairie animals, when suddenly-"
"What the hay…?! What's that over there!?" Applejack shouted suddenly from the crowd that was watching Rainbow Dash, shouting with such a voice that even Dusk, Fluttershy and Spike looked towards where their country friend was.
Upon seeing Applejack, everyone saw that she was pointing to the sky, so everyone looked up to where she was pointing. There, everyone was surprised to see a large cloud of smoke that was growing slowly and was approaching through the sky in the direction of the town.
"What is that!?" Dusk asked, still seeing the huge cloud of smoke that appeared growing in the sky.
"That's what I was trying to warn you about, I-" Fluttershy began to speak timidly, unable to finish, since Dusk quickly trotted over to where her other friends were to see if any of them knew what that cloud of smoke was.
Both Spike and Fluttershy went to follow Dusk and joined their friends and the rest of the ponies who were there and who saw with fear that huge cloud of smoke, all except Rainbow Dash, who continued to bounce without stopping the ball on her head, although this time with more difficulty, since the cries of worry around her was starting to distract her.
"It's a huge cloud of smoke, but where did it come from? Is there a fire nearby?" Rarity said with a little concern, who like the rest of the ponies began to speculate about the origin of the smoke.
"For there to be so much smoke, it must be a huge fire... Did any of you see where it started to emerge?" Dusk asked when he arrived in the crowd.
"I-I think it's coming from the mountain that-" Fluttershy began to speak before being interrupted for the umpteenth time.
"Dusk arrived!?" Rainbow Dash asked excited, who had been enduring the distractions all that time, but as soon as she heard Dusk’s voice, she tried to look for him, and only that was enough for her to finally lose balance and drop the ball she had been bouncing all morning. "Noooo!" Rainbow Dash shouted desperate to see the ball fall next her aspirations to break a record.
Rainbow Dash was looking at the ball on the ground as if this had been a glass plate that had been shattered, with an expression of total disappointment, however, when lifting her head, she saw that everypony around her was looking towards the sky, so she did the same and she was equally surprised to see the great cloud of smoke growing in the sky.
"Wow, that's a lot of smoke..." Rainbow Dash said speaking to herself.
Then Rainbow Dash spread her wings and launched herself into the sky, flying swiftly to where the cloud of smoke came from, after all she thought that as captain of the weather team, it was her responsibility to know everything that was happening to the skies of Ponyville, although of course, she also did it to satisfy her curiosity. That's how Rainbow Dash quickly left the crowd, flew as high as she could in the direction of the smoke, and returned just as fast to where the crowd of ponies was with her friends.
"It seems that all that smoke comes from the Eastern Mountain." Rainbow Dash said to her friends once she landed next to them.
"Um... that... that's what I was trying to tell you..." Fluttershy said somewhat embarrassed, since finally she had not made herself heard and that now others are now warning her about what she already knew.
"From the mountain? Then, it's not a fire?" Dusk Shine said confused.
At that moment a huge roar was heard throughout the town, alerting all the ponies around while making the ponies tremble who saw the cloud of smoke, as everything indicated that the huge roar had come from the same place where the cloud of smoke came from.
"It can't be... I think it's a dragon..." Dusk said nervously, thinking aloud.
As soon as Dusk said that phrase, all the ponies around him began to murmur among themselves as fear grew rapidly among the crowd, causing the crowd to disperse because many ponies began to run scared back to their homes, however, among all that bustle, there was a pony that was eerily quiet and silent, it was Fluttershy, who upon hearing the terrible roar and then having heard the word 'dragon', she was completely paralyzed, becoming totally pale of fear while her mind traveled to one of her most terrifying memories, remembering some evil red eyes, huge fangs and an evil laugh.
While Fluttershy was paralyzed by absolute terror, Dusk began to think about what he should do in the face of such danger, because having a dragon nearby was an imminent danger, since if it was a wild dragon, this beast could eat any living creature, including ponies, and even if it were not one of those carnivorous dragons, a dragon that ate gems could similarly terrorize nearby villages and steal all jewels and valuable objects there; and finally, if the dragon only came to sleep, it would still be a danger, since the smoke caused by his snoring would definitely obscure the entire nearby sky, blocking the sun completely, which would leave Ponyville in complete darkness.
"Spike, write a note." Dusk Shine said after meditating. "I think the only option there is to tell the princess to send some squad of guards to face the dragon."
"I think someone has already overtaken you." Spike responded, pointing to the other side of the sky that was not yet dark with smoke.
As soon as Dusk saw where Spike was pointing, he understood what he meant. Just coming from Canterlot came a squadron of five pegasus of the royal guard, easily recognizable by their shiny golden armor. The squad of guards flew over Ponyville and looked as if they had just been looking for Dusk, they began to descend into the park on the outskirts of town, and landed right in front of Dusk and his friends.
"You're Dusk Shine, right?" One of the guards asked, who seemed to be the leader of the squadron.
Dusk narrowed his eyes briefly after hearing that question, because it bothered him that the guards did not know, or pretended to not know who he was, despite all the time he had lived in the castle, however that was not the best time to discuss.
"That's right, and I'm glad you came." Dusk said leaving his annoyance aside, relieved that the problem that was presented to them apparently would be solved faster than he had thought. "Surely the princess already heard about the dragon, I was just going to write her a letter to ask-"
"This letter is for you." The leader of the squadron said, interrupting Dusk and showing him a scroll, he was holding.
Dusk looked at the guard incredulously, then he took the scroll, and read it:
"Dear Dusk.
I have just been informed that a huge dragon has been sighted near Ponyville. Apparently, this dragon has decided to take a nap in a cave on the top of a mountain that is next to the town.
Needless to say, it is imperative to make the dragon move and sleep elsewhere, since its cycle of hibernation can vary from days to hundreds of years, so the smoke caused by his snoring could kill the beautiful town of Ponyville and its surroundings.
That is why I have decided that YOU should take charge of the situation and to somehow dissuade the dragon from its hibernation in the mountain. I would go myself, but for some strange reason I am replete with audiences today.
Yours affectionately, Princess Celestia."
As soon as Dusk Shine finished reading the letter, he put a face of total surprise and disbelief at what he had just read, so he reread the letter a couple of times to make sure he understood correctly what the princess was asking him. Once Dusk was sure that there were no mistakes and that he had read everything correctly, he put on a silly smile of disbelief and looked at the guards.
"Is Princess Celestia asking me to go and kick the dragon out of the mountain?" Dusk said smiling with total disbelief. "It's a joke, right?"
The guards looked at each other for a moment and then looked at Dusk, extending another scroll.
"The princess said to give you this scroll if you asked us that question." The leader of the guards said, handing Dusk the other scroll.
"I knew it!" Dusk thought with a sigh of relief as he opened the new scroll and smiling at the shock he had taken. "I knew it must’ve been a joke from the princess!"
Dusk opened the letter and read:
"It's not a joke.
PS: The next time you want to ruin my day off by filling my day with fake audiences, tell somepony else to write the invitations, since I asked them to show me the fake invitations they had received, and I could easily recognize Spike’s claw-writing, remember that I've been receiving your letters for years.
Anyway, have fun with the dragon :) "
When Dusk finished reading the letter, he lowered it slowly while a cold sweat ran down his body. It was not a joke, this was revenge for taking the princess’s day off, he now has to somehow get the dragon away from the mountain of Ponyville.
While Dusk's smile disappeared, and his face turned pale upon discovering the terrible task entrusted to him, the guards saw Dusk's face and could not help but laugh at seeing him so disturbed after he had been smiling.
"Oh boy, it's a relief, thanks for taking care of the dragon for us!" The leader of the royal guards said while smiling mischievously, since the princess had told them what the letter said before handing it to them. "Good luck!"
In that instant all the guards opened their wings and took off at the same time, flying towards Canterlot, leaving Dusk paralyzed and speechless.
As soon as the guards left, Dusk's friends approached him to find out what had happened, all except Fluttershy, who remained paralyzed where she was, although only a few steps away from Dusk. Then Dusk slowly left his initial stupor, and with a face of total resignation and fear, he explained to his friends what had happened and what the princess had requested.
"Wow... this is a new level of revenge..." Spike said scratching his head after Dusk finished speaking. "I told you it was a bad idea to make that joke on the princess."
Dusk looked at Spike with nerve, remembering that his little brother had been an important part of planning the princess's joke, but then Dusk just lowered his head, resigned to the fact that it was no longer important.
"Anyway, I think I'll go immediately, I don't know how I'll do it, but somehow I'll have to make that dragon take his nap somewhere else." Dusk said putting a shy smile before his uncertain future.
"Well, just give us a few minutes to look for some things, we should be prepared for any eventuality." Rarity said suddenly, putting a hoof on her chin as she thought.
Dusk looked up in surprise and saw that his four friends around him looked at him with smiles that filled him with confidence.
"I should have known, they wanted to accompany me on this dangerous adventure." Dusk thought as a more natural smile grew on his lips.
"Of course we'll accompany you, don't tell me you thought you would go alone?" Pinkie Pie said smiling, as if she had read Dusk's mind.
Dusk already knew from experience that it would be useless to tell his friends to stay behind, since they were all friends and they would obviously want to accompany him on this dangerous adventure, and the truth was that Dusk also wanted his friends to accompany him, after all, they had shown that they were much stronger when they were all together. However, despite everything, Dusk decided that he should alert his friends to the danger they wanted to face.
"I want you all to come with me, so we can do this together, but I have to warn you that a dragon can be much more dangerous than you think." Dusk said with a look of concern, looking in his friend’s eyes. "Adult dragons are nothing like Spike, they are much bigger, with sharper claws and big fangs that could easily go through armor. I don't want you to take this lightly."
At Dusk’s words, the mares began to take the situation more seriously, imagining the terrible creature they would face, not being able to avoid putting faces of concern. Dusk immediately noticed that his comment had not only alerted his friends, but also seemed to have discouraged and frightened them, so he immediately began to think of what to say to raise their weaken morale.
"As long as we're together, nothing can stop us! We've already defeated the mighty Nightmare Moon! Don't forget about that!" Rainbow Dash shouted suddenly and excitedly, flying at ground level and throwing punches and kicks in the air, as if she was facing someone. "That dragon won’t know what hit him! I'll give him the old one-two, and then a spinning kick, and I'll take a nosedive with my super punch so fast he'll give up before he even realizes it!"
With the excitement of Rainbow Dash, the other mares forgot for a moment their worries and fears and began to laugh and have more hope before the enormous task that was coming before them, trusting that as long as they had courage and were accompanied by their friends, they could overcome any test together.
"That was perfect!" Dusk thought smiling, thanking Rainbow Dash internally for quickly doing just what all her friends needed, giving them a psychic blow of confidence.
Meanwhile, slightly removed from all the excitement of the moment, was Fluttershy, who was breathing agitatedly after the panic crisis she just had when remembering that horrible memory of her past. The shy pegasus saw her friends, all smiling and feeling confident about themselves, especially Rainbow Dash, who as always, was one of the bravest and most determined ponies she knew, without any hint of fear, catching the attention of Dusk and her friends, emboldening them so that they all would face that great test that was ahead; and there she was, the total opposite of Rainbow Dash, trembling with fear, ignored, not even able to capture the attention of her friends, or even Dusk.
"Why!? Why can't I be brave like Rainbow Dash...?" Fluttershy thought almost on the verge of tears.
Then Fluttershy stopped looking at Rainbow Dash and looked at Dusk, who looked passionately at Rainbow Dash while his eyes shone.
"He stares at her..." Fluttershy thought sadly, realizing that not only this time, but many other times, Dusk has always looked Rainbow Dash in the eye when he talked to her, unlike how Dusk acted when talking to her. "He has never looked at me like that..."
"Very well, then we'll meet here in half an hour." Dusk said, finally organizing his friends to prepare quickly and go as soon as possible to the mountain.
"Sure!" Pinkie Pie said enthusiastically.
"Half an hour is a short time, I'll have to pack the essentials." Rarity said nonchalantly, thinking more about what she would wear for that excursion.
"I'll tell Granny Smith to pack a few apples." Applejack said, also confirming, winking at Dusk.
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! We're really doing it!" Rainbow Dash said, totally excited to know that she would face a huge dragon.
At that moment Dusk turned to the only one of his friends that has yet to confirm, waiting for her response.
"Fluttershy, are you coming?" Dusk asked again when he didn't get an answer from his friend and only saw her back.
Fluttershy listened to what Dusk said and listened in panic as all her friends confirmed without problems that they would go with him, each one earning a big and affectionate smile from the lavender colt. They all had confidence in Dusk, they all wanted to support him unconditionally, they were all demonstrating why Dusk had a place in their heart! But she... all she could do was tremble and remember those terrible red-golden eyes and that sinister laugh of her past.
"You can't go, you can't go! YOU CAN'T GO!" Fluttershy yelled at herself, biting her lips hard, with her body totally tense, and some small tears peeking out from her terrified eyes at the impotence she felt with herself for feeling useless and being a coward.
"O-Okay..." was what Fluttershy finally answered with, turning to see Dusk. Just opening her mouth to respond, taking all her courage and willpower to break only for a moment the barrier of fear that was in her mind, wishing that for just once Dusk saw her as someone courageous and reliable, wishing that he saw her how he saw Rainbow Dash.
"Good, then let’s go!" Dusk said smiling as he and the other mares ran to their respective homes to prepare their travel bags.
The five ponies ran quickly, leaving only the yellow pegasus behind, who stood still, like a statue, but as soon as her friends were out of sight, Fluttershy fell to the ground collapsed, covering her face with her hooves as she cried, finally pulling out all her frustration and fear that she had repressed while her friends were in front of her.
After a couple of hours of walking, finally the six ponies came to the foot of the mountain, where the new and uninvited visitor had come to take a long nap, and just at the top of that mountain they could see perfectly that from the top was where all the smoke came from, which by then had almost completely covered Ponyville's sky. As soon as they reached the foot of the mountain, Dusk Shine, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Futtershy and Rarity looked up to see the big mountain in front of them, although the truth was that this was the shortest mountain of all the nearby mountains, which was perfect, since Dusk was hoping that if they hurried the step and everything went well at the top, maybe they could go down the mountain before nightfall.
Each of the ponies had on their back a saddlebag, except for the two pegasus of the group, who didn't take one so that their wings are free, while each of the other four had in their saddlebag what they considered essential for the trip: Rarity loaded it with an enormous amount of clothes and accessories for every occasion, after all she didn't know how long that trip would last and she must be presentable at all times; Pinkie Pie carried her portable arsenal of parties, thinking that this would be the first time she would have a party with a huge adult dragon; Applejack was carrying only food, because as prearranged as she was, she had anticipated that none of her friends would worry about bringing food; and finally Dusk Shine, who had several books about dragons and a map of the mountain, which he just saw at that time, planning the fastest way to reach the top.
"Rarity, why did you put on that scarf?" Rainbow Dash asked seeing that her friend had taken out an elegant and fine scarf and had put it around her neck.
"Well, we're going to the top of the mountain, so I think it's going to be cold there." Rarity answered with a smile while modeling her pretty scarf. "I brought several, do you want me to lend you one?"
"Pfft! No thanks, I don't think it's necessary." Rainbow Dash responded with a sarcastic smile, since in fact she thought it was absurd that a scarf around her neck protected her from the cold or even served for more than decorating.
"Shhh! Keep quiet for a few seconds, listen." Dusk said suddenly after realizing something.
The mares did what Dusk asked, and stayed in total silence, so everyone could hear some strange sounds coming from the mountain.
"What's that noise?" Applejack asked confused.
"I-I think it's the dragon's snoring..." Dusk said with a little fear in his voice. "It's incredible, I mean, it's normal to hear a roar from a dragon in the distance, but if the dragon is sleeping on the top and from here we can easily hear his snores, it means that it must be a huge dragon... hundreds of times bigger than Spike. "
As soon as Dusk finished speaking, he realized his mistake and turned to see the mares, who, with his comment, immediately began to be more afraid to remember again the real danger to which they would expose themselves. While Dusk was thinking about what to say to lift their spirits up again, Rainbow Dash stepped forward once more.
"S-So? That doesn't matter!" Rainbow Dash said flying in front of her friends with a face of determination, to give them courage, although she had also been a little scared. "He can be a dragon of Equestria's size, but it doesn't matter, as long as we’re together we can do anything!"
"Yeah!!" All the mares responded immediately, who recovered their spirits thanks to the words of their friend.
While Rainbow Dash smiled radiating confidence, Dusk Shine stared at her smiling, something that Fluttershy noticed immediately, which made the timid pegasus lower her head sadly with disappointment.
"Very good, time to climb the mountain." Dusk said after seeing that all his friends were ready to go up. "I’ve already looked at the map and I think that if we go up this slope that is in front of us, instead of going down the road, we'll save a lot of time."
"How about if flyers go ahead a bit?" Rainbow Dash said looking at Dusk and then at Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, what do you think?"
Before Rainbow Dash’s asked that question, Fluttershy imagined arriving alone, in front of the dragon, which terrified her completely.
"I-I think it's better that we all go together." Fluttershy finally answered, hiding that she was afraid to fly alone to where the dragon was.
"Yeah, I also think it's the best option." Applejack added, beginning to climb the steep sector.
Rainbow Dash stopped being in the position of takeoff at full speed, and reluctantly and slowly raised her wings to fly at ground level with her friends. Thus, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Dusk Shine all began to climb the slope, while behind them was Fluttershy, flying slowly like Rainbow Dash.
GROOOOOWL...!!
Suddenly a huge roar was heard, the same roar that they had heard in Ponyville, but this time much stronger. They all fell silent for a moment, stopped climbing the mountain, until they heard the dragon's snores again.
"Wow… that scared everypony, right?" Dusk said with a nervous smile, while looking at his friends to start climbing again, however he was surprised not to find one of his friends. "Wait, where's Fluttershy?"
The rest of the mares looked at their sides and none of them saw their shy friend. It was only when Dusk completely lowered the view that he saw that Fluttershy had come back down to the foot of the mountain.
"Fluttershy! What are you doing down there! Come up! It was just a roar!" Dusk shouted down, since they had already climbed enough and had to scream to be heard.
There they all waited for Fluttershy to go up or even answer, but she stayed still and without answering.
"Wait a minute... Oh no! How come I didn’t notice this before?!" Dusk thought as he remembered something about Fluttershy.
"Keep going, we'll catch up with you." Dusk finally said to the rest, starting to quickly descend the slope.
Once Dusk got to where Fluttershy was, he saw that she was shaking slightly, but still her face showed a certain determination, while she moved her shoulders constantly and looking back and forth, as if something was bothering her.
"Fluttershy, what's wrong?" Dusk asked worriedly.
"I... I'm sorry..." Fluttershy replied with regret. "W-When I heard the roar of the dragon, my wings contracted, and I couldn't keep flying... I... I try to open them, b-but they won't respond to me..."
When listening to Fluttershy’s explanation, Dusk sighed with regret, realizing that apparently Fluttershy really was making a great attempt to accompany them, but despite the effort she put, her own body unconsciously reacted to fear. Dusk immediately regretted being a bad friend and not realizing before the fear of his friend.
"Fluttershy, when we first met, I was afraid to introduce you to Spike because you told me you were afraid of dragons..." Dusk said looking worriedly at his friend. "That's the problem, right? Sorry for forgetting."
Fluttershy looked up and saw Dusk in the eyes, who looked at her with that face of concern with which he always saw her, as if she was going to break herself at any moment, so different from the look of admiration with which he looked at Rainbow Dash, something that broke Fluttershy's heart.
"Listen, if you're scared, you don't need to go with us, there's no problem." Dusk said trying to smile but still watching his friend with concern.
"N-No! I want to go!" Fluttershy said almost in a scream, with her soft voice, closing her eyes tightly while a few tears peeked through them, again annoyed with herself for being a hindrance, trying with all her might to show her bravery.
Dusk was surprised at the determination of his friend, and although he can see Fluttershy's legs trembling, he knew that his friend must be terrified, Dusk couldn't help but appreciate the great effort that his friend was making to accompany them despite all.
"Okay, let's go." Dusk said with a smile to cheer her up. "If you can't fly, you can climb with me."
Upon hearing Dusk's words, Fluttershy was glad to be understood by him, so she looked at Dusk and then at the slope where her friends climbed, where from time to time some small stones came off by the rubbing of the hooves. It was then that Fluttershy's relief quickly became anguish again.
"I... I don't think I'm capable of climbing that slope." Fluttershy said honestly, with a face of anguish to realize that she was once again a nuisance.
Dusk looked confused at his friend for a while, uncertain how to act, since if it had been any of his other friends, he would have claimed or insisted that they must to go up the slope, since it was the shortest way to the top. But before him was Fluttershy, the timidest pony in the world, so he couldn't treat her like the others.
"Huff... it's okay... if you really can’t, I guess we'll have to go the long way." Dusk said, sighing and trying to hide his frustration a little.
Fluttershy smiled tenderly when she saw that Dusk was being patient with her and that he would accompany her. And so, it was that both ponies began to walk on the path that leads them to the top of the mountain, by which it would take them twice as long to reach the first half of the mountain, a walk in which each of them was immersed in their own thoughts.
"Dusk, why didn't Spike come?" Fluttershy asked as they walked, thinking that she could at least take advantage of that alone time she had with Dusk to talk.
"I told him to stay at home, because the truth is that although he is a dragon, he hasn't had much contact with others of his race, he has been raised all his life among ponies, so I don't know how an adult dragon would react to see a little baby dragon with some ponies, least of all to a dragon so troublesome and who comes to take naps in pony towns." Dusk responded, always thinking about protecting his younger brother.
"Oh, I see… I think you're right." Fluttershy said with some anguish imagining a huge dragon teaching its claws to the innocent and tender Spike. "I think the dragons would hate to see a dragon being raised by ponies, they... They are terrible creatures!"
"Hmm, talking about that... tell me, is there any reason why you’re afraid of dragons?" Dusk asked, noticing some fear and resentment in Fluttershy's words.
With Dusk's question, it was inevitable that Fluttershy would return to that fearsome memory of her past, where again she was alone in the darkness, seeing the terrible red-golden eyes, the huge fangs, and the evil, ghostly laughter, which made her sweat and tremble from head to tail.
"The big dragons are wild beasts, with evil eyes, sharp teeth, sinister and evil beings... That's why I’m afraid of them." Fluttershy answered with a frightened look, without giving more details.
"I don't think all dragons are the way you describe them, wild and evil beings, even a few of them live in the wastelands of Equestria, so they must follow the laws of the kingdom." Dusk said thinking that perhaps what Fluttershy had was a superficial fear, only because of the intimidating appearance of those creatures. "So, it's only their appearance that you’re afraid of? Nothing else?"
At Dusk's question, Fluttershy only remained silent, but her gaze changed showing that her anguish and fear was growing for some reason. She didn't want Dusk to think that she discriminated against dragons just because of its appearance, so she opened her mouth to answer, but finally she was unable to do it and just turned her head to the side, stopping and trembling again, refusing to relive that horrible memory once again.
Seeing that the question had put Fluttershy in such a state, Dusk immediately approached his friend and put a hoof on her back to reassure her.
"I’m sorry if I made you remember the dragon and caused you to feel afraid." Dusk said thinking that Fluttershy was trembling again to remember that she was going to face a dragon. "Tell me, are you still sure you want to continue?"
At Dusk's touch, Fluttershy stopped shaking and looked at Dusk tenderly. When she looked at him and into his eyes, Fluttershy imagined that sweet colt and her kind friends going to face the terrible dragon that slept on that mountain, and she immediately thought that although she was incapable of doing something, she couldn't leave her friends alone to confront such a danger, no matter what happened, she wanted to be with her friends.
"Yes, let's continue." Fluttershy finally answered, getting back on track with Dusk, thinking of something she wanted to say him, but didn't dare to do.
"Besides, I feel safer when I'm with you." Fluttershy thought looking at Dusk coyly as he walked beside her.
"Finally!" Rainbow Dash said once Dusk and Fluttershy arrived to where she and the others were, in the middle of the road to the top of the mountain.
When looking at where her friends were, Fluttershy saw that the ground was full of scratches in the form of the game 'tic-tac-toe'. Apparently, her friends had played at least a hundred of those games to pass the time while she was arriving with Dusk, that made her feel guilty for making them wait and that the entire mission was delayed because of her.
"At least you had fun playing." Dusk said, who had also noticed the scratches on the ground.
"Yes, it was really fun!" Pinkie Pie answered with her usual smile.
"Sure, it’s probably because you always win..." Rarity replied a little frustrated for not having managed to beat Pinkie Pie even once. "And you, why did you linger for so long? Did you come on the long road?"
"Yeah, sorry for the delay." Dusk said scratching his head, saddened by the delay. "Unfortunately, I forgot that Fluttershy is afraid of dragons."
The mares looked in disbelief at Dusk, then looked at Fluttershy, and looked back at Dusk.
"Pffft! But that's nothing new, she’s even afraid of her own shadow!" Pinkie Pie said laughing, laughter that the other mares accompanied, because they fully shared what Pinkie Pie had said. All of them liked Fluttershy, but it was also more than obvious that their friend was sometimes too exaggerated with her fears.
"Maybe the girls are right, and I shouldn't worry..." Dusk thought at that moment, who had thought that Fluttershy's fear could be a serious problem, but now he realized that in reality his friend was too afraid of many things, and maybe her fear of dragons was not the big thing really.
While her friends laughed, Fluttershy only gave a shy smile. She knew that her friends didn't laugh with bad intentions, and that perhaps it would be best to explain where her fear of dragons was born, but finally she simply remained silent, not wanting to tell unpleasant stories, less at that moment.
"Well, thanks to CERTAIN PONY we are very late." Rainbow Dash suddenly said after laughing, looking askance at Fluttershy, because although they were laughing now, the truth was that the attitude of her pegasus friend had bothered her a bit, mainly because it had caused them to linger, and there was nothing that would bother Rainbow Dash more than the fact that someone delayed her. "I think it's best to keep going."
That's how the six ponies finally reunited and continued their way to the mountain, because at that point, the slope of the mountain was too steep to continue climbing up the sides.
The sun had stopped being on their heads, being slightly inclined to their left side, which indicated that it was already afternoon and that they should hurry if they wanted to reach the top of the mountain, solve the dragon problem, and return before the daylight is gone.
"Be careful, the road has split a little further on." Rainbow Dash said from the air, who flew near her friends and went to the front of the expedition, to see the path that was ahead.
The rest of the ponies began to walk more quickly until they reached the place that Rainbow Dash had just indicated. There, the road was split apart by a deep abyss, which fortunately was not very wide where it separated the road, only a body and a half away in the empty zone, and on the other side the road that went up to the mountain continued.
"Okay, look it's not big deal." Dusk said backing a few steps to take a running start and jumping over the abyss, to fall comfortably on the other side of the road. "If you take a running start, it's easy to jump." Dusk added looking back to his friends to follow him, except for Rainbow Dash, who was already with him because she had flown there.
For safety, the mares took turns to jump, first Applejack, and then Pinkie Pie, and just as the latter jumped, a great roar of the dragon was heard and rumbled throughout the mountain, causing Pinkie Pie to fall a little unsteady on the other side of the road, but still made it safely.
"Great! That roar couldn't come at a better time!" Rainbow Dash said sarcastically, annoyed, making Dusk look at her and notice that she was pointing to the other side of the road, where after the roar, Fluttershy was with her legs buried firmly in the ground, shaking from tail to head, with a face of absolute terror.
"I think we have a problem here!" Rarity shouted from the other side, who had not yet jumped and was still with Fluttershy. "I don't think Fluttershy can jump!"
Dusk went over to the edge to return to where Rarity and Fluttershy were, but Pinkie Pie went ahead and jumped before he did. Once there, Dusk saw how Pinkie Pie and Rarity talked at length with Fluttershy, apparently trying to convince her to follow and jump.
"Ugh! This can't be possible, now she's afraid of jumping! She's a pegasus! She can fly!!" Rainbow Dash murmured annoyed, becoming more impatient and angrier.
Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie began to jump over and over the rift, from one side of the road to the other, showing her shy friend how easy it was to jump, all while Pinkie Pie was singing a song.
"What's wrong with me! How come that didn’t occur to me before!?"Dusk thought hitting his head with a hoof at an obvious revelation. "I guess because I spend so much time living between pegasi and earth ponies, I forget the basics of a unicorn."
Then Dusk shone his horn and, in a flash, disappeared and appeared instantly on the other side of the road, next to Rarity and Fluttershy, as Pinkie Pie had taken her last jump to stay with Rainbow Dash.
"Fluttershy, if you're afraid of jumping, I can use my-" Dusk started talking, thinking how foolish he had been not to think about teleportation before, so he could make Fluttershy appear next to him on the other side of the road in the twinkling of an eye. However, he didn't even manage to finish his sentence, as he was immediately interrupted.
"No! She'll jump, I know she can!" Rarity said seriously, interrupting Dusk, knowing what the unicorn lavender would say after he used his teleportation to appear next to them.
After looking at Dusk seriously, Rarity looked at Fluttershy again, just as seriously.
"Darling, I know you're scared, but there are things you must learn to overcome." Rarity said with a serious look but speaking tenderly. "I can understand everything that you are feeling, but the others may not always be as understanding as I am, and I also know that you can do it, you just have to prove it."
At Rarity's words, Dusk understood why she didn't want him to interfere. Rarity knew that this was a small obstacle, one that Fluttershy had to overcome on her own since no one knew what more difficult challenges prepared the way ahead, besides Rarity had touched another fundamental point, the irritation with Fluttershy for making them delay was increasing, finding its maximum exponent in Rainbow Dash, who from the other side of the road showed how irritated she was to have to be waiting; so, with Fluttershy's jump, Rarity wanted to show that Fluttershy could overcome this challenge by herself.
Listening to her friend, Fluttershy slowly raised her eyes and looked towards the other side of the road, no longer looking with fear, but still she seemed to be hesitant about jumping.
"Fluttershy, if you want we can jump together." Dusk said, thinking that the shy pegasus might need a last impulse to encourage herself to jump, and maybe someone accompanying her in her jump was that impulse.
Dusk advanced a little and stood next to Fluttershy, smiling at her and stretching one of his hooves towards her so that she would take it and accept his proposal. Fluttershy looked at Dusk with big, tender eyes, and slowly put her hoof on top of his.
"O-Okay..." Fluttershy finally answered, agreeing to jump with Dusk.
Then Dusk clung to Fluttershy's side and made them both take a couple of steps backwards to gain momentum, while Rarity waited near the edge to give them space. As they prepared to jump, a part of Fluttershy couldn't help but be thrilled to be so close to Dusk, feeling the warmth and softness of his fur, making her heart race faster than just for the simple fear that she had in that moment before the 'huge' jump that she would.
"Now!" Dusk said, starting to jog, giving the signal to Fluttershy to do it too and didn't leave him.
Fluttershy began to run, with the growing fear of seeing the approaching abyss that she needed to jump but dulling this feeling of fear with the security and tranquility that it offered to be doing that with Dusk Shine.
Finally, both ponies reached the edge of the abyss, which was where they had to jump. They both flexed their legs to jump, but just at that moment Fluttershy couldn't help but glance briefly down, seeing how the deep abyss was lost in the darkness, which made her body to be paralyzed and could not take off her hooves from the ground.
With the sudden movement of Fluttershy, or rather for the lack of this, Dusk was destabilized while jumping to look to his side and feel that his friend had taken off from him, realizing at the last second of the jump that Fluttershy had repented to jump. At that moment Dusk also wanted to do the same, but everything was so sudden that the only thing he managed was to take a small leap forward almost without lifting his hooves from the ground, which made him stay in the air and start to fall from the edge of the road to the abyss.
"DUSK!" Rarity screamed, scared to see that Dusk was going to fall from the cliff, reaching to take a step forward to try to reach him.
In that fleeting moment, Dusk stretched his hoof trying to reach Rarity's hoof, but not reaching to touch it. And when he thought that he would fall hopelessly into the abyss, just in the last fraction of a second, he managed to grab something that held him, Rarity's scarf.
"Waaah!" Dusk screamed in fright, holding on to the front legs of Rarity's scarf while his backs legs were on the wall of the abyss to avoid falling.
"Hold on!" Rarity said as she strained her entire body to hold Dusk, and her aching neck suffered more than it had ever suffered.
Fortunately, Rarity didn't have to endure Dusk's weight alone for long, as Fluttershy immediately held Rarity to help her pull Dusk while Rainbow Dash flew to Dusk's back to push him onto the road again.
"Phew! That was close." Dusk said once he was back on the road, throwing his back to the ground and breathing hard.
"Too close! If you had fallen I don't know if I would’ve been able to grab you." Rainbow Dash said worried, looking at Dusk agitated, at Rarity rubbing her aching neck, and then at Fluttershy, that's where Rainbow Dash changed her look from worry to annoyance.
After a few minutes of rest to recover the air, Dusk stood up again, ready to continue the way.
"After that scare, I think I'll make sure to cross over by teleporting next time, hehe." Dusk smiled nervously, then looking at Fluttershy. "Is it okay if we do it like that?"
Seeing how Dusk still smiled at her even though it was her fault he had almost fallen into the abyss, Fluttershy was ashamed of herself and immediately began to think about what to say to apologize for everything that had happened, not knowing what to say, since it really seemed that she had been a complete hindrance for the whole trip, not only delaying, but also risking the lives of her friends.
"I... I..." Fluttershy started stuttering as she sorted out her thoughts to apologize to him and Rarity.
"Ugh! Enough!" Rainbow Dash said without being able to hold back her frustration, annoyed with Fluttershy because she thought that her friend was stuttering because she didn't want to accept Dusk's offer and cross the abyss with magic.
Then Rainbow Dash took momentum and took Fluttershy from behind her front legs as she flew and carried her in a jiffy to the other side of the road.
"Done, problem solved." Rainbow Dash said annoyed, without turning to see Fluttershy and beginning to fly at ground level as she began to move along the road to the top of the mountain.
As soon as Rainbow Dash started to move forward, Applejack and Pinkie Pie looked worriedly at Fluttershy and then slowly went after Rainbow Dash, thinking that the rainbow-maned pegasus had been very rough, but they also understood the discomfort she felt. Meanwhile, Dusk Shine and Rarity also crossed the abyss, joined with Fluttershy, and slowly the three began to walk to join their three other friends.
As they walked, the atmosphere was no longer like the six ponies had when they left Ponyville, now they were all tense and in an uncomfortable silence because of what had just happened, and no one regretted more than anyone that they were in this situation, that the very cause of that was Fluttershy, who just kept walking with her head down and her ears drooped, lamenting, having believed that she could match the values of her friends, and regretting having gone on that outing just to annoy and delay them all, and the worst was that she had already caused all those problems and they hadn’t even arrived to the dragon yet, and when they arrived there it would be worse, much worse, she would be worse than a dead weight, after all, what good would it do if she were there when her friends confronted the dragon?
Fluttershy's heart began to tighten while her low self-esteem disappeared completely, leaving her sunk in a great depression.
# End of chapter 27
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Ya know I was suppose to go to bed 20 minutes ago, but when I saw the new chapter posted, I was like "Screw it" & it was so worth it!
Next time, Dusk & Spike decide to ruin Celestia's day off, they better remember the day, her revenge was to take care of a giant dragon!
P.S. What a b****, Rainbow is to Fluttershy! Does she remember how bad Fluuter's phobias are?
9096799
No, it's not.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happiness
9096983
You can't r/whoosh an obscure movie reference.
27 chapters and 250k words later and we're still only like a third through S1. Wonder how long it'll take to get to Trixie, let alone Best Night Ever.
Well this was interesting chapter to see thing in Shy's POV, I will be look forward to see what next. Still I though Trixy episode came before that, I am guessing you are making your own chronology to this?
I always felt that Rainbow Dash was always a little too harsh on Fluttershy in that episode of MLP:FIM with the Dragon, I mean they’ve been friends for years growing up before Twilight came along and she still treated her badly from time to time.
9097325
To answer your question about Trixie, not too long, actually.
9096799
xD hahaha Maybe when Dusk has a foal, he'll take him to a daycare center with that name haha
thanks for comment ;)
9096934
hahaha I'm glad you liked the chapter ;D I'm sorry I made you stay awake xD
ps: we hope that the situation between RD and Fluts can improve in the next chapter
thanks for comment ;D
9098521
Its fine, like I said, it was worth it!
9097325
no doubt Trixie will appear soon, we just have to wait a little longer =D
and about Best night ever, well, it's the final season, and I'm preparing something special for that chapter =D
thanks for comment ;)
9097977
I'm glad you liked the chapter.
and yes, this story has its own chronology, it'll not necessarily follow the order of the show =D
thanks for comment ;)
9098141
yeah, and here also happens, I hope in the next chapter we can understand a little more about this relationship between the two :)
thanks for comment ;D
9097325
It's not the destination...
wait what?
Gotta say, this is a new low for Celestia. Sending civilians who are ill-equipped and untrained to take care of a dragon in retaliation for a harmless prank?
I feel like this is going to be one of many things that's gonna build up to Dusk blowing up on Celestia like he did before Nightmare Moon's return, only it'll be at the Canterlot Wedding.
9098958
yeah! that's right =D
9101389
xD any questions? :P
9102656
Yes, definitely Celestia exaggerated this time :O
We'll see if what you say is true and Dusk explodes again against Celestia at the wedding xD
thanks for comment ;)
9103117
There are two things that keep bugging me when I'm imagining the future updates of the story,
1: Is Duck Shine the only genderbend pony in your story? No one else?
2: Will you do your EqG version of the story in the future?
3: Will you recreate all the episodes of MLP?
4: Are you alive?
5: Will this story continue to live?
Duck Shine = Dusk Shine
TYPOS.
9111387
well, answering your questions:
1: Yes, for now Dusk Shine is the only one genderbend. Maybe in the future I think about adding another character genderbend, but for now there is nothing concrete about that :)
2: I don't think so, personally I don't like EqG very much ^^;
3: I don't think so, they are too many seasons xD lol
4: yup... I guess xD haha
5: obviously the story is still alive, soon I'll publish the next chapter ;D
Yyyeah, this is one of the things that makes the lack of personal history prior to The Cutie Mark Chronicles kind of blatantly obvious - doesn't help that episode was one of the last Season 1 episodes...
Rainbow Dash was Fluttershy's defender and friend back when they were fillies, making the quote's lack of understanding and general meanness quite odd, quite out of character, without this meta knowledge.
The chapter kinda gets to me because I have been through all the negative stuff Fluttershy has been through and the chapters end explains the last 10 years of my life. But it always gets better when your family/friends realize and help you.
Sorry for the negativity just thought it is some good advice for all of y'all if your dealing with this kind of shit
Hakuna matataaaaa. what a wonderful phrase!
Oh grow up Dusk. You took on Nightmare Moon in a beam clash and actually managed to destroy her, a Dragon should be NO problem… unless it’s kaiju sized
I remember this one Dusk Shine story I was an editor for where Fluttershy’s traumatic backstory was that her parents had actully been trampled to death by a dragon (this was before it was revealed she had a family), and that’s where her fear of them comes from.
As a side note, whenever she’d get into incredibly dangerous situations where someone close to her is in mortal peril (like Nightmare Moon), she’d get these crazy surges of hysterical strength and hold her own for a bit (for context, she was half Pegasus, and half Earth Pony, so while she wasn’t that great at flying, she was incredibly strong when she applied herself). I wonder if there’ll ever be something like that in this story, lol.
So is this an early season Fluttershy yell, a later season Fluttershy yell, or a GGG yell?
{Lugubrious: looking or sounding sad and dismal.}
Ah, so it’s the kind of evil laugh where you break down in tears?
Damn, I won’t lie. As a Flutterdash shipper, I’m kinda disappointed that Rainbow Dash isn’t sympathetic towards Fluttershy’s fears. Especially since part of her backstory was coming to Fluttershy’s defense when she was in trouble.
Like yeah, I get that this is all so that Fluttershy will eventually open up about her trauma and face her fears… but her friends are kinda dicks today.
B-… wh-… you’re childhood friends! You should know by now that she‘s not a great flyer! The heck, Rainbow?!
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Who knows what Fluttershy's ancestors are. Maybe it would be interesting to investigate them at some point in history, who knows
I suppose gloomy can be used differently in Spanish, something similar to dark or sinister. I think I'll delete 'gloomy' and just leave 'evil laugh'. Thank you for the correction.
about Rainbow Dash, soon we will know why she is so hard on Fluttershy
Interesting how shiny is hated by dusk because he stole dusk’s first love.
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Yeah, they have some problems to solve. They're not as loving as Shiny and Twilight